The other first-team all-county runners

Liam Burke, Jr., Tappan Zee: Burke ran third at the League 4-B, Section 1 Coaches Invitational, Rockland and Class B meets and placed 26th in B at the NYSPHSAA meet and 45th in the Federation. He also finished sixth at the Manhattan Invitational, seventh at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational and 20th at the Queensbury Invitational. Kyle Chesterman, Sr., Nanuet: Chesterman won at Somers’ Big Red Invitational and placed third at the Section 1 Coaches Invitational, fourth at the Suffern Invitational, League 4-B and Class B events and 47th at the state meet. He also ran sixth at the E.J. Herrmann and county meets and eighth at the Manhattan Invitational. David Gates, Sr., Nyack: Gates finished second at Six Flags, third at the Brewster Bear Classic, fifth at the Suffern Invitational and in the Class B race and 31st in B at the state meet. He was also sixth at the League 4-B Championships, 11th at the Section 1 Coaches Invitational and 21st at the Rockland County Championships. Luke Gavigan, Jr., Tappan Zee: Gavigan’s strong season included a win at the Section 1 Coaches Invitational, runner-up showings in his Six Flags, Manhattan, League 4-B, Rockland and Class B races, fourth place in B at the state meet and 13th in the Federation. He was also fifth at the Queensbury Invitational and 25th at the NXN New York Regional. Mike Mahoney, Jr., Pearl River: Mahoney finished fifth at the League 4-B meet, sixth at the Section 1 Coaches Invitational and in Class B, seventh at the county meet and 35th in B at the state meet. He was also 18th at the Manhattan Invitational and 37th at the Queensbury Invitational. Liam Purdy, Sr., North Rockland: Purdy won the League 4-A title, ran third at the Red Raider Run and in the Class A race and came in fourth at the county meet, seventh at the Manhattan Invitational, 46th at the state meet and 50th in the Federation. He was also 13th at the Queensbury Invitational and 51st at the Great American Cross Country Festival. Coach of the Year — Barry Baloga, North Rockland: The 10th-year head coach, who was assisted by Rich Simko, guided the Red Raiders to a triple crown — the League 4-A, county and Class A titles. North Rockland also finished fifth in A at the state meet and 16th at the Federation meet. Second teamTim Boston, Sr., Suffern James Camillieri, Sr., Nanuet Pat Flanagan, Sr., Tappan Zee Flannan Hehir, Sr., Tappan Zee Brandon Ilie, Sr., Pearl River Asaad Jeffrey, Sr., North Rockland Vinny Vazquez, Sr., North Rockland Honorable mentionRyan Brennan, Jr., Nanuet; Steven Cho, Sr., Suffern; Dom Fortino, Jr., Pearl River; Patrick Hennelly, So., Suffern; Liam Mallon, Jr., North Rockland; Ben McDermott, Jr., Pearl River; Reuben Mulholland, Sr., Tappan Zee; Diego Santory, Jr., Suffern; Stephen Schnalzer, Sr., North Rockland; Jeremy Soloman, Jr., Suffern; Ricky Stephens, Jr., North Rockland. All-sectionJake Acito, Sr., North Salem; Ben Barton, Sr., Fox Lane; Liam Burke, Jr., Tappan Zee; Alexander Burks, Sr., Mamaroneck; Kyle Chesterman, Sr., Nanuet; Brian Cook, Sr., Pearl River; Mike Delfay, So., Brewster; Pat Flanagan, Sr., Tappan Zee; John Flannery, Sr., Bronxville; David Gates, Sr., Nyack; Luke Gavigan, Jr., Tappan Zee; Liam Hackett, Jr., John Jay; Kevin Langone, Sr., Pawling; Sawyer Maher, Jr., Carmel; Mike Mahoney, Jr., Pearl River; Steve Morrison, Sr., Arlington; Benito Muniz, Jr., Carmel; Liam Purdy, Sr., North Rockland; Jack Ryan, So., Rye; Kunal Shah, Sr., Lakeland/Panas; Grant Sheely, Jr., Dobbs Ferry; Vinny Vazquez, Sr., North Rockland. Compiled by Brian Heyman; all-county teams selected by the Rockland coaches

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Brian Cook’s tactics ran him a little off course in some large races on the track and the trail.

Most notably, that cost him in the steeplechase at states in Middletown last June and in the Class B state cross country championship at Queensbury last month, when the Pearl River senior watched the eventual winner run on by after Cook owned the lead for about the first 4,000 meters.

Those ended up being two third-place showings when he was capable of two firsts. Fast starts sapped him for fast finishes. And the results left him disappointed.

But a turn in strategy for his 5K run through hilly Bowdoin Park in mid-November helped Cook rule as the overall state champion at the Federation meet and make some history. No Rockland runner had ever won a Fed race and no Section 1 runner had ever run Bowdoin this fast, 15 minutes, 45.2 seconds fast, breaking the record of 15:49 held by Carmel’s Eric Holt.

“Steeplechase states and cross country states taught me a valuable lesson at the big races, to not go out very hard and to not take the lead and to definitely be a lot more conservative for the first half and come charging home the second half,” Cook said. “That’s definitely what I learned a lot this season.”

He shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he had repeated as the Rockland Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year from The Journal News and the county coaches.

“He’s the first one at practice,” Pirates coach Mike Kiernan said. “You tell him what to do and he goes and does it. ... He does everything right. He eats the right way. He sleeps the right way.

“Everything you want out of an athlete, he is. And then he’s got the natural talent on top of it.”

And he has got the respect of the competition.

“Cook, he’s a tough guy,” Carmel junior Benito Muniz said after finishing ninth in that Fed race. “I give all the credit to him. He’s been running amazing this year. He broke Eric’s record. That’s crazy.”

The fabulous Fed work went nicely with the first-team all-county pick’s repeat victories in League IV-B, the Rockland County Championships and Section 1 Class B, plus his Queensbury Invitational title.

(Page 2 of 2)

“Last year, I had a really great season,” Cook said. “That was probably my breakout season, junior year of cross country. So coming into this season, I knew I belonged at the top of every single race. Going in with that confidence in every single race (meant) a lot.”

Villanova, Syracuse and Fordham have been in the running for Cook’s services. Kiernan thinks this 5-foot-11 son of a former marathoner will excel in cross country at the Division I level with the 8K and 10K events.

“He’s going to be a better college runner than he is a high school runner,” Kiernan said. “He doesn’t have as much speed as some of these guys, but he can run forever.”

His final runs in high school track are coming up indoors and then outdoors. Cook capped his junior year with all-America honors in the 2,000 steeplechase.

“Now that I have a Federation championship,” Cook said, “I’m going to try to get a state championship under my belt, just to say I did it for track, either in the 2 mile indoors or hopefully in the steeplechase outdoors.”